Stars: George Clooney, Quentin Tarentino, Juliette Lewis, Cheech Marin, Ernest Liu, Fred Williamson, Salma Hayek, Kelly Preston, John Saxon.
Written by Quentin Tarantino.
Directed by Robert Rodriquez.
Running time: 108 minutes

This was really two films. It reminded me of "Full Metal Jacket", wherein the first half is a magnificent view into Marine basic training during Vietnam, and the second half is a typical, though well-done, Vietnam action film. In Dusk, the first half is a very good gangster chase story, and the second half degenerates into a typical Vampire fest.

One pleasant surprise is that I was able to watch Tarantino on screen without wincing; he puts in his best acting to date. I still think he should stick to writing and directing, though. As an actor, I don't think he will ever be any better run-of-the-mill, while his dialogue and directing put him in a class with the elite of all time.

George Clooney was very good as the even-tempered—in comparison with his brother, played by Tarantino—thief, who only wants to get out of a bad situation. I don't watch ER, so was not familiar with Clooney, but was impressed by his screen presence.

Cheech Marin, playing three parts, was excellent. One scene, where he tries to get people to come into the "Titty Twister" bar, will leave you either laughing uproariously, or completely offended. Cheech was used very well in this film. He's not the kind of actor who can carry a movie (as evidenced by the failure of the Cheech & Chong films), but he is excellent as a (weird) character actor. The irony of Cheech playing a border guard, looking for drugs, is too much.

There is gore and foul language enough to meet the requirements of the most hearty of movie-goers. But this should come as no surprise to those familiar with the work of Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez.

There are two places where the movie falls short: Harvey Keitel, normally very good as a guy on the edge of society, plays a middle-aged, pot-bellied, preacher, who has lost his faith. The role was to pedestrian for him, and the character never came alive for me. The second poor choice was Juliette Lewis. I seem to be the only one immune to her particular charm or beauty. She's a skinny, annoying-voiced, little airhead. Why she keeps popping up in otherwise good movies is beyond me.

There is some very good music, and a very erotic scene with a snake. Both the snake and the dancer’s breasts appeared to be fake—not sure about the snake, though; it’s possible it was real. Most guys in the audience will be on the edge of their seats (in more ways than one) during this performance by the surgically-enhanced Salma Hayek.

Overall, I enjoyed the film. The first half was very good, and the second half, though not as clever or original as the first half, was okay as a Vampire film.